This picture was taken today, 28 Jan. It's surprising that this should start to flower just as the snowbells and hellebores are starting to show up. But what is it?
Not the same, but closely related; P. albus is from Europe, P. japonicus fron NE Asia. Here's a pic of P. albus: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afbeelding:Petasites_albus_flowers.jpg
This is Petasites japonicus. (So says the label.) This infloresecence is in it's early stages of opening.